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Christ’s garment, bu t here were people cured by the touching of garm ents th a t had been laicl on P au l’s body.—Henry. v. 12. H andkerchiefs o r aprons. Luke is careful to intim ate th a t th e apostle did not of himself adopt or rec ommend these methods, bu t th e faith of th e converts was such th a t df mani fested itself in th is way and God was pleased to bestow blessings because of th e ir faith. Even the sons of Sceva recognized th a t it was not to P au l but to Jesus whom he preached, th a t the powers were to be ascribed. Thus was God’s m inister made to differ from the p retenders to m iraculous power w ith which th e Ephesian people were fa m iliar.— Kayser. v. 13. We ad ju re yon by Jesus. They did not call Him Lord (cf. I Cor. 12:3; Rom. 1 0 :9 ). It is not by the Jesu s whom someone else preaches bu t by the Lord Jesu s whom we ourselves know, th a t we accomplish real resu lts for God. -—Torrey. W here God’s Spirit is m ight ily a t work, Satan is not far away. Here the enemy’s em issaries were mean enough to use th e name of Jesus to get themselves a few more shekels, b u t the name is useless ap a rt from th e living power of the Spirit.— Meyer. Whom P au l preached. A strik ing testim ony to th e power of Christ’s name in P au l’s mouth.— Brown. v. 14. One Sceva. The number of obscure individuals whose names have found a place in Holy W rit is rem ark able.—Whitelaw. v. 15. Evil sp irit answered, Mark th e clear line of dem arcation between th e evil sp irit which answered and th e man in whom th e sp irit was (v. 16). The reality of such possessions could not be more clearly expressed.— Jam ie son. Jesu s I know. W hat a testimony was this! All th e world of demons knew Jesus. He had m et Satan and all his forces and vanquished them . The demons also knew P aul, once th e chief h ater and slayer of saints. They knew he was now held in God’s hand and th a t he was impervious to th e ir attack. But ■who are these sons of Sceva? Men who know not God would b etter beware of a fight against Satan. Man is no match for th e devil. W hat sarcasm in these words| Who are you? You are little nobodies.—Neighbour. v. 16. Leaped upon them . F o r a moment, th e consciousness of the man was taken possession of by th e demon, who, as in th e sim ilar instance mention ed in th e Gospels (Matt. 8 :29 ; Mk. 5 :7 ;
Lk. 8:'28), acknowledged the au tho rity of Christ, and as in the case of th e Pythoness a t Philippi (1 6 :7 ), recogniz ed th a t of the apostle as C h rist’s ser v an t bu t had no fears of th e sons of Sceva.—Horn. Com. v. 17. F e a r fell on all. Note to w hat good resu lts it led: (1 ) To. the impression of th e public mind. (2) To th e exaltation of th e Lord Jesus. (3 ) To th e repentance of many -in the church. (4 ) To the conversion of not a few of th e exorcists themselves. (5 ) To the accelerated progress o f the Gospel.— Kaylby. v. 18. Showed th e ir deeds. In th eir fear they owned th a t th eir profession had not been followed completely by th e ir practice. The deeds were those courses of action connected w ith witch craft, sorcery and exorcism th a t were inconsistent w ith the Christian life.# ;; Lumby. v. 19. Burned th e ir books. Some books, though cast into th e fire, will not burn. The magical books of th e Ephe sians perished, b u t the sacred books of th e Old and New Testaments, though often given to the flames, have always come fo rth again fresher, livelier and w ith more power th an ever.— Sel. v. 20. M ightily grew th e word. The fu ll sense of th e words rendered “m ight ily’’ is “w ith overpowering force and streng th which nothing could resist.”*— Camb. Bible. The first * m ethod of P au l’s preaching in th is heathen city was expounding the Scriptures, and the final resu lt was th a t th e Word grew m ightily. The Scriptures will pu t more ligh t into- a community th a n th e so- called reform s of m e n .^T u c k e r. M- M Subject Illu stratio n “Why do you wish to re tu rn ? ” said Dr. Jow ett to a m issionary who had been invalided home. “Because I can’t sleep for thinking of th em !” P aul always had a LESSON revival or a rio t in ILLUSTRATIONS every place he W. H. P ik e went. He preached tru th s th a t stirred the h earts of men. In an outdoor meet ing in. London a fellow shouted, “There is no hell. Hell is h e re !” ‘‘You are wrong for th ree reasons,” replied the speaker. “F irst, w ithin a sho rt dis-
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